45th NCAA in a row- annual post

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I know there are others, like Gimp, who is one ahead of me; my first was at Princeton 1975. And I know that Dan Gable must be approaching upper 50's in NCAA appearances. Who are others approaching these numbers, and how many will this be for you?

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I worked the event for many years with Dave Adams- NCAA 2nd in 56. He might be approaching his 60th. (I'll try to get him on fb). Rummy Macias former coach of Mankato State is in his 70s (trips) I believe. I think he's been there since before WWII.

Dave says this will be 64 for him. And Mankato State is currently known as Minnesota State- Mankato.

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Question for you old timers(I'm one of you). My first NCAA was at Maryland in the 70's. Who was the kid who I believe won at one of the upperweights who arrived in the USA from Cuba?. I remember it was quite a story on how he got here(small boat across the ocean from Cuba). Also, seem to remember him having a bad knee(thoughts of a 12 year old...

Edited March 13 by pennsyrules

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Question for you old timers(I'm one of you). My first NCAA was at Maryland in the 70's. Who was the kid who I believe won at one of the upperweights who arrived in the USA from Cuba?. I remember it was quite a story on how he got here(small boat across the ocean from Cuba). Also, seem to remember him having a bad knee(thoughts of a 12 year old...

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Oh yea....that's a wrestling room, wt. room, workshop and ping pong table in a full basement....climbing rope, airdyne, wts, kettlebells, punching bag, wrestling dummy.... right now my grandkids have a ball down there, and my son has started one in his basement.....full wall mats, padded post too. My kids grew up down there....that chinup bar was my first wt. set bar (York) back in 1961....it was a short bar, so I turned into a chinup bar years later when I got longer bars.

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Oh yea....that's a wrestling room, wt. room, workshop and ping pong table in a full basement....climbing rope, airdyne, wts, kettlebells, punching bag, wrestling dummy.... right now my grandkids have a ball down there, and my son has started one in his basement.....full wall mats, padded post too. My kids grew up down there....that chinup bar was my first wt. set bar (York) back in 1961....it was a short bar, so I turned into a chinup bar years later when I got longer bars.

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And as far as the "standing" thing - we did it in 2016, but the way the program got jammed up with ESPN and the in-house production, sometimes there wasn't the right spot to plug it. From my perspective, the hardest part is recognizing one or two people in a swarm of 18,000 who might be standing. I know Jimmy Keen is always there and he's at over 50 events, as is Rummy Macias. We're working on ways to try to keep that tradition alive, but the tournament has evolved so much over the years that the timing of those things has to be perfect. In 2016, when Hazard and I started announcing the event, that's one thing we really wanted to plug in, more or less, because it was something Sandy loved. We still try to do our best to pay homage to those who have announced before us.

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First- (This is not directed at fadzaev) op was talking about Maryland so I answered about that year.

In 78- he defaulted to Jeidy possibly costing Ia State the title. They lost by 0.5.

WOW....I forgot about the team score thing.....I liked both wrestlers, but I was a Jeidy fan....he had some good footsweeps......almost seems like that might have affected Frank Santana in that match....footsweeps/knee hurt. Another of my all time favorites from Wisconsin, was Jimmy Haines 1977 NCAA Champion...he beat Mike McArthur in the finals....I think Mike had beaten him maybe 3 times that year (all-star match, dual and big 10). MIke was tough on top, and Jimmy found a way to get out in the finals match....I discussed that with Russ Hellickson (then asst. at Wisconsin) and he said Jimmy worked hard preparing to get out. That year Jimmy had 224 takedowns in 39 matches, thus earning the nickname takedown machine....I developed a some footage of Jimmy's takedowns that year, along with footage of another favorite ....Joe Gonzales....also a takedown machine.....what a great sport!!!! Fadz

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And as far as the "standing" thing - we did it in 2016, but the way the program got jammed up with ESPN and the in-house production, sometimes there wasn't the right spot to plug it. From my perspective, the hardest part is recognizing one or two people in a swarm of 18,000 who might be standing. I know Jimmy Keen is always there and he's at over 50 events, as is Rummy Macias. We're working on ways to try to keep that tradition alive, but the tournament has evolved so much over the years that the timing of those things has to be perfect. In 2016, when Hazard and I started announcing the event, that's one thing we really wanted to plug in, more or less, because it was something Sandy loved. We still try to do our best to pay homage to those who have announced before us.

Actually, Jim Keen and the Keen family are good friends of mine....they were the ones that one year let me know how many he head been too.....started going with Cliff when he was young.....I just remembered it DID NOT happen last year.....forgot about that, and was disappointed...it is hard to spot people throughout the arena, but those around you get to see you and some others....I think it's added to people wanting to keep coming back, along with other things....the great wrestling, the best match going last, the smoke machines, raised platform for finals, FanFare, television/Flo/Track are adding to the awareness of our great sport, and the wrestling continues to get better....thanks for all you do Jason, and I hope you can work the "standing" thing in every year...people enjoy looking around and seeing those around them who are standing.....Fadz

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Oh yea....that's a wrestling room, wt. room, workshop and ping pong table in a full basement....climbing rope, airdyne, wts, kettlebells, punching bag, wrestling dummy.... right now my grandkids have a ball down there, and my son has started one in his basement.....full wall mats, padded post too. My kids grew up down there....that chinup bar was my first wt. set bar (York) back in 1961....it was a short bar, so I turned into a chinup bar years later when I got longer bars.

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Yea but I can play DVD's and VHS tapes from my vast wrestling library in it while I'm riding the bike....I have a big screen/smart tv upstairs to watch FLO ,etc. on......LOL....nice observation though.